Cosmic Love
by XxHermione'Jean'MalfoyxX
Summary: Hermione Jean Granger has found herself in a time of loss and dispair. Who could have guessed that Draco Malfoy would be the one to save her from the middle of it all. A sudden rescue leaves them both wondering "why?"
1. Broken

Dear readers, it's my first fanfic so cut me slack. Haha I love you for reading this and promise the next chapters will be longer! Special thanks to Kenzie Jean for being awesome.

Love,

HJM

Cosmic Love

A falling star fell from your heart and it landed in my eyes, I screamed aloud, as it tore through them, and now it's left me blind. ~Florence and the Machine

Chapter one: Broken

The rain pounded around Hermione Granger, keeping time with her heartbeats that shook through her as she cried into her hands. You couldn't really tell if what rolled down her face were tears or water from the sky. She sat, curling her legs up to her chest, on the opposite side of a grey brick wall in the courtyard. She had a beautiful view of Hagrid's hut, dimly lit by firelight from inside, the forest, teeming with nocturnal life, and the mountains, looming in the distance. Everyone else was inside eating, yet she knew her friends wouldn't come looking for her. She realized now, that in so many ways, she was alone. She was staining her skirt and robes in the grass and mud, but she couldn't care less. Her life, it seemed, was heading in a downward spiral.

And that was how Draco Malfoy found her.

He hadn't gone to dinner either, for reasons unknown, and was wondering the grounds in the rain, bored and exhausted. When he saw Granger sitting by herself in the rain, crying, he wanted to laugh at his luck.

"Granger." He said, smirk forming. She kept sobbing and looking away from him. He thought that, maybe she hadn't heard him. "Granger!" He said much louder, scaring an owl from its perch under the wall. But once again, she just remained still, now consciously ignoring him. He felt rejected by her absence of a comeback or acknowledgement, and knew he had to push the stakes higher if he wanted a reaction.

"Did Potty hurt you? He has no time for you now that he defeated the Dark Lord?" He tried a taunt, but she didn't answer him. The sky was dark now and they could hear students' heavy footsteps plodding up to bed inside the castle. The moon dimly lit the scene before Draco's eyes. "It was the Weasel, wasn't it? He doesn't really love you, right? I've seen him snogging other girls this year, and it's about time you found out."

Malfoy's words stung Hermione more than she could say, because not only were they true, they were the reason she was out there crying. Earlier that day, she had caught Ron with a Hufflepuff and when she ran to Harry and Ginny for comfort, they were both too busy to listen, let alone help her. She wanted Malfoy to go away, he was such a slimy prat, but she couldn't find any words to say. In fact, she felt so awful that she literally couldn't move.

He was so frustrated with her now for not talking back to him that thought about walking away, but that would make him look like an idiot. He rose his hurting to the next level so he could leave feeling proud.

"Filthy Mudblood. Just like you to get dirty in the rain and dirt." She started hyperventilating at his words, and he took that as a small victory. That was when he actually took a good look at her, though.

He realized something that he should have realized a while ago. Hermione was a brilliant witch, she knew a charm to keep mud and water off of her, but it seemed that she was in such a state that it didn't matter to her. After all, even he, who was in a sulky mood, had put that charm on to go walking in the rain. He had never seen her this depressed and realized that he had made it so much worse for her too, he thought. He felt so bad for hurting her. He shook his head, wondering why the hell he felt sorry for Granger.

Suddenly, Hermione looked up, and Draco was gone. He was running as hard as he could through the doors of the castle. He couldn't come to terms that he had felt sorry for the Mudblood. He shook his head, stopping in his tracks right on the threshold to Hogwarts. He couldn't leave her there. In five minutes, the doors would close and she would be stuck outside at the mercy of creatures from the Forbidden Forest. She didn't look like she was going to get up anytime soon.

He stood there for awhile, just weighing options, and realized that there shouldn't be an option at all. He was a Slitherin. Since when did Slitherins help Gryffindors? Or Mudbloods? But guilt was eating him up on the inside. What if she was hurt by hypothermia? The rain was like ice. What if some wild animal got her? The image of her being hurt and it being his fault for not going back kept playing in his mind as he finally made his decision.

Steaming with anger at himself, Draco wheeled around and ran back to Hermione, who was soaking wet and now looking at him with her sparkling hazel eyes, tears coming down and mixing with the water. She looked so vulnerable and stuck there, and Draco's instincts took over. He walked close to her and put his hand on her shoulder. She flinched, expecting him to hit her or something, but he just kept staring at her shaking form.

She looked away from him, ashamed and wanting him to leave and not have to go through this with him. But she did need help. The events that had led up that day, and most of all that day had left her empty and unable to move. She knew what she had to do and looked back at him.

"Help me" she croaked. "I can't move, I don't know what's wrong with me." She said through fits of coughing and sobbing. She felt awful asking Draco for help, but she didn't know what else to do. He, not really knowing what he was doing, hoisted her tiny body in his strong arms and carried her into the castle.

His steps echoed on the cold stone floor, and they were in complete silence because everyone else was gone. It was, after all, past curfew. Suddenly, he heard a prefect coming around the corner, or maybe it was Filtch, but either way, he couldn't be caught this late with a Gryffindor girl in his arms who appeared physically hurt. That would arouse suspicion, so he ducked around the corner and they hid behind a statue and watched a fifth year prefect round the corridor and walk past them briskly.

Draco quickly scampered from behind the statue and jogged up a couple flights of stairs. The adrenaline that was in him from almost getting caught made Hermione feel like a feather as he stopped to weigh his options.

He knew he couldn't carry her into her common room, because he knew that would start rumors, and it was really the same for his. He stood in the empty stairwell for a moment, contemplating the issue. Then it suddenly came to him, the Room of Requirement. He breathed a sigh of relief when the door formed and opened for them. The whole entire castle had been rebuilt to its former glory after the final battle of the war.

Hermione had kept crying in his arms as he set her on a chair and used a spell to temporarily get some of the mud off of her so she could lie in the bed. He couldn't help her change, because that was just something you don't do with your enemies. Yet, was what he was doing right now something you do for your enemies? He knew the answer, but he kept going, trying not to think about it. When she was clean enough, he laid her down on the bed in the room and sat on the chair next to the bed. He examined the room, only the bed and chair for furniture, and it fairly sized with what looked like a bathroom and, upon further inspection, a couple of books under the chair. He was about to pick one up, when he found Hermione's eyes on him.

She had stopped crying and ws just staring at him in disbelief. He was about to ask her what she was looking at in a mean tone, but he stopped himself. And before he could change his mind, she had closed her eyes and drifted into a heavy sleep.

Once he knew for sure that she was sleeping, he strode into the bathroom and took a cold shower, finding clean Slytherin robes where he had thrown his dirty ones when he came out. He marveled at the room, with white walls and white bed sheets and a white chair. It was so incredibly plain that it was comforting. He grabbed a blanket that had appeared on the chair and thanked Merlin for how great the Room of Requirement was with his needs. He sat down and closed his eyes, not really trying to find sleep, but opened them again, somehow not being able to take his eyes off the room and the things inside it.

Draco was glad there was a chair, because he knew he wouldn't be able to sleep, even if he too had had a bed. And for some strange reason, he was glad that he was close the Granger. Never in his life had he ever seen her in such a pathetic state, yet he felt so bad for her. And the more he thought about it, the more he reasoned with himself. I'm allowed to care, he thought. I'm allowed to have feelings for someone, even if I'm a Slytherin. It's ok that she is a Mudblood.

The last one shocked him the most. But, as he sat there and ran those words through his head, they started to sound nice, normal, and surprisingly ok. And he watched her all night long, not in a creepy way, but in more of a caring, watchful and protective manor. He looked at how peaceful she was asleep compared to before, and realized just how nice she looked when she wasn't being a know it all git in class, fighting with him or making comebacks. He watched her as his eyes become groggy and sleep finally loomed over him.

He didn't expect to sleep, and when he woke up in the morning, he was surprised that he had at all. His back was sore when he stood up from sitting up all night, but he convinced himself that by helping someone, it was worth it. He was disgusted at himself, really, I mean, what kind of Slytherin cares about anything? However, he just couldn't help it.

And when he found her bed empty, he felt a drop in his heart for a reason he couldn't find an answer for. He found a note on the bed, which was made neatly. It only said one word and was obviously from Granger. "Why?"

Draco stood there next to the bed with the note in his hand, wondering the same question himself. And he was at a complete loss for an answer.

Review and I will love you forever! I will post the next chapter very soon. Love, HJM


	2. What Was Lost

Disclaimer: I do not own any of JK Rowling's Characters or settings. I only own the scenario.

a/n: Hey everyone! Enjoy chapter number two of Cosmic Love, where we get a bit more background on our characters. Sorry for all mistakes, my Beta, Kenzie Jean is in San Fran! And sorry it took so long to update, my dinosaur computer was being a butt. O.o Love, HJM

Chapter two: What Was Lost

"The scars of your love remind me of us, they keep me thinking we almost had it all." ~Adelle

Hermione was laying in the shade of a tree, all alone, next to the Black Lake. The current of the water as it splashed to the shore made relaxing rippling sounds that she only heard, for her eyes were closed in thought. The birds chirped in the trees and she could just hear the Thestrals stomping around in a clearing right behind her. She was in a mediation of sorts, breathing in, and out, in and out, trying to calm herself down from the past few days.

It was so peaceful and quiet, but she was being tormented on the inside. Her vision was only fire filling the sky and her second home, Hogwarts, burning slowly to the ground. People screaming as death eaters killed their loved ones, as they fought for their lives. Her heart clenched as she remembered Harry's fake death, destroying the final horcruxes, and her pain as she fought through the grounds next to Ron.

She rolled over and held back tears as she thought of him. Ron, professing his love, Ron, staying with Hermione all summer, Ron, who until recently had no reason to break her heart. Well, she didn't know the reason. But him eating someone else's face off was evidence enough for her. They had both made promises of love and the future together, yet, it seemed those were as empty as his heart.

That was what initially lead her to her state of utter despair the day before. That was when her thoughts became blurry and slurred. Malfoy. Finding her and helping her. She barely remembered anything. Being carried, being cleaned and staring into his blue eyes. His eyes that were no longer ice. They were warm ocean water, swirling, beautiful and dangerous.

As she laid the bed, staring up at him, she had resisted the urge to thank him. While she had wanted to so incredibly bad, she was way too confused by his actions to properly analyze his actions at that moment. She scoffed at herself and rolled over on her side in the grass. Honestly, she still couldn't figure out his motivation.

She woke earlier that morning, horrified that he was next to her. That she needed his help. But, before she ran out of the room, she wrote down a simple note of "why?' and left. Immediately, she went to the Gryffindor dorms and took a shower, chugged a glass of water and slept for the first half of her Saturday. No one came to find her or ask where she had been.

When she woke up in her own bed, it was One, and she snuck down to the kitchens for a piece of toast and came out to the lake to think. All of her thoughts racing through her head, trying not to think of the war and trying to figure out so many things, were giving her a nasty migraine. The stomping of feet from far off resonated in her head, every step like a dagger piercing her hurting head.

"`Mione?" she heard from several feet away. Her eyes clenched, trying to keep the water from escaping her eyes. She pretended not to hear him. His sickeningly sweet voice that not only shook through her, it was making her headache much worse.

"`Mione?" Ron repeated. How dare him, she thought. How dare she use her pet name after he hurt her so bad? She rubbed her temples and the bridge of her nose. He cleared his throat, ready to say her name again.

Her eyes burst open and she stood up, grabbing her wand out of her boot. "Get away from me before I hex you!" She said warily, voice wavering.

"Just let me explain. Nothing happened." He pleaded. But she knew better than to trust him. She knew how his eye twitched and he spoke very slowly and quietly when he was lying. _He was making excuses because she was his trophy_, she thought. _With her, he seemed smarter and more likeable._ Hermione guessed, _that is why he wants me back._

"NOTHING HAPPENED?" he voice was now strong with the fire of betrayal. She seethed before she said her next words. "You cheated on me. You said we would get married one day and have kids and grow old together. Did that mean nothing to you Ronald?"

"We-we will! That hasn't changed. Hermione. We were just studying. You saw something that didn't happen-"

"Studying my arse!" she yelled, livid. "You were snogging her Ron. This isn't some rumor I heard. I saw this with my own eyes. Now get away from me before I hex you!"

Ron's face dropped at this news. She had been hearing rumors for the past few weeks of him with other girls that she had quickly dismissed. She thought that after all they had been through together, he would always be by her side. She gave him trust he didn't deserve, though. He thought she was angry over another 'he said she said'. He hadn't known she had seen.

"She means nothing to me, you mean everything to me!" He tried, but her face hardened. "Nothing has changed," he repeated.

"Is that why you kissed _her_? Because_ I_ mean everything to you?" She put her hands on her hips and puffed up her chest, making a dominant stance, hoping he would back down. It didn't work, and he only came closer. That was when she turned around and started to walk in the opposite direction. If he didn't leave, she would.

"Hermione-" He reached towards her, trying to stop her from walking away, but she saw what he was doing and was too fast.

"_FURNUNCULUS!"_ she screamed and pointed her wand at him, making painful boils suddenly appear all over him.

"I will never forgive you Ron Weasly. You can't hurt me anymore. We are over." Were her final words as she ran into the forest, leaving him screeching in pain at his boils.

"Everything had changed." She whispered, loud enough for only her to hear.

She didn't want anyone to see her as she ran back to the castle, so she kept herself covered by a shallow layer of trees in the forest. She cried to whole way into the bathroom as she cleaned herself up and scampered into the library.

Draco Malfoy had sat in his room for an hour staring at Hermione's note and contemplating trying to find her or leave her alone. It astonished him that he wanted to find her, but he just had to know if she was ok or not.

Many hours ago he had woken up, found the note, contemplated it for awhile and then gone back to sleep. Then he woke up and started thinking about her again. For awhile he had tried to do a potions essay. But every time he wrote about the proper, legal uses of Polyjuice potion, Granger danced into his mind, stirring up his thoughts and feelings until he accidently wrote her name into a sentence. He crumpled up the parchment, threw his quill aside and put his head in his hands.

"I have to see her" he whispered to himself. "Just to see if she is ok" he reasoned.

A knock at his door jarred his thoughts and brought him out of goodie goodie Gryffindor state of mind. Of course he wouldn't try to find her. He was cold. A mean person. Mean people don't help their enemies.

So did that mean he wasn't a totally mean person? Because he had helped her? His head started to hurt.

He opened his door to Blaise Zabini and Astoria Greengrass, both some of his only friends and both currently bickering with each other.

"You know what Blaise? Just shut up." Astoria said in a shrill, fighting voice. "You know we can't-"

"C`mon, don't be such a baby" Blaise interrupted.

"What are we arguing about?" Draco said, his voice weak for some reason. He cleared his throat and repeated himself. "What is it this time?"

"Blaise wants to sneak off to Hogsmeade. To get Fire Whiskey. He thinks it will cheer you up." She took a deep breath, trying to tell him lightly how he had disappeared and they were concerned. "You have been in your room for hours you know. What's wrong?" Astoria said all this so fast that Draco didn't really catch any of it except for sneaking off.

"Oh don't change the subject, do you want to go or not? Don't let miss "I'm suddenly a noble person" stop you." Blaise gave him the ultimatum.

"Yes." Draco immediately agreed, not wanting to let his thoughts take over and accidently confront Granger again. He knew it was best to stay as far away from her as possible. He just didn't know how long he could keep it up.

Astoria complained the whole way to the Hogshead as they went out the secret passage through the Whopping Willow and towards the shrieking Shack.

"Where are Theo and Pansy?" Draco asked as they approached the nasty Willow as it innocently swayed. Though, the spell of peace was broken as it quickly trapped a bird in its branches and the bird let out a desperate call. Draco winced.

He took his wand and pointed it at a large rock. "Wingardium Leviosa." The rock floated up. He then flicked his wand and sent the rock barreling towards the trunk of the enormous tree, hitting the knob and making it stop moving. They all ran under the tree and through the passage, making sure it didn't have time to start moving again unexpectedly.

By the time they sat down in the Hogshead next to Theo and Pansy, it was about one thirty. The barmaid gave them a suspicious look, as they were clearly underage for drinking.

"Firewhiskey" Draco told the maid.

She shook he head, making the braids in her hair swing back and forth. "Identification?" she asked them all, clicking her tongue to the top of her mouth, bothered that these students were wasting her time.

Astoria made a tsk tsk noise very quietly, clearly expecting this, but Draco, who also knew how it would go, threw a large bag of Galleons on the counter. The maid's eyes widened and she took the gold and shoved it in her dress.

"Firewhiskey." He repeated. "For me and my friends." She just nodded and got them all tall glasses of the stuff.

The whole time they were in there, the Slytherins complained about school and professors and how simple life was now that the Dark Lord was dead. The more they talked about illegal things they were doing and planning on doing, the more the maid looked at them. Finally, after a while, Theo stared back at her and asked "What are you looking at?" she took a step back. "Get us another round." He hissed.

But, all the while his fellow housemates were talking and complaining and scheming, Draco was thinking about a certain curly haired Gryffindor. He was still zoned out on the shocking events of the previous night. More like his shocking decisions.

"Draco?" Pansy finally noticed his silence. "What _is_ your problem?"

"Nothing" he remarked. "Just tired." Which really was true. He didn't sleep most of the night. His back also still hurt from the chair, making him shift uncomfortably. They all looked at him incredulously, in disbelief at his denial. "I need to go finish Slughorn's essay" he told them, before grabbing his bag and trodding out the door. He could barely hear his friend's protests as he left. He knew he had to go before they started guessing what was wrong.

Draco wasn't going to finish his essay. That was a lie. And it was definitely he most Slytherin thing he had done in a while. He rounded the corner and sat on a bench in the shade. The ground was still a bit soggy after the rains the day before. The freezing breeze kicked up and the falling leaves swirled around his feet. Winter was on its way, and Draco felt weary. He didn't know if his mother would let him come home for the holidays, because he hadn't gone home after the war.

He and the other Slytherins had paid their repentance and joined the supposed "good side" by rebuilding the damaged grounds over the summer. He had betrayed his mother for not speaking for his father when he was tried and sent to Azkaban, and even more so by supporting the war heroes. He didn't know if she had disinherited him or not, for his only clues were a couple of howlers now and then, which didn't look well for his case.

Suddenly he looked up from his perch on the bench, seeing his friends exit the Hogshead, going after him. But from where he was sitting, they couldn't see him, he only saw them. As they passed, expecting him to go back to the castle, he heard one single person exit the bar, wrapped in a dark cloak and mumbling to himself.

Draco, who didn't really know what else to do, decided to follow this stumbling, obviously drunk figure. He liked to test himself, creeping around at night and tailing people, just to make sure he still had that snake-like deceptive touch. Although, the person he was following really wasn't much of a challenge. He was about as aware as a brick wall.

The hooded person stumbled up the steps to the castle, now apparently a student. And really, a student with impeccable luck to not be caught on his way in though the front doors. Draco gave him a bit of a head start, and then ran up through the doors, hoping no professors would spot him.

He caught up with the person just as they took a tumble and had the cloak fall off. Draco was a bit surprised when he saw that the drunken student was Ron Weasley. It took him a couple tries to get up, mumbling the whole time. "In the library." Draco's ears caught what the Weasel was saying in his drunken stupor. "Get her back."

He watched Ron confusedly run through a couple levels of the castle, trying to find the library, which was quite a ways off. Draco checked his watch and frowned, then looked out a window as they passed. He had been following Ron trying to find the library for an hour. He was confused as to how Ron hadn't passed out yet.

The idiot fell again in front a group of people who laughed at him before pointing the way to his destination. Draco, through, noticed that his skin was covered in red and yellow spots, and he vaguely wondered if the klutz had fallen in a stinging nettle patch.

Now he was very, very intrigued to where Weaselbee was off to. The library? He would actually have to have a brain to go there. Get her back? That had to mean Hermione, to Draco's knowledge. Draco suddenly became worried for Granger being found alone in the Library by an angry intoxicated ex-boyfriend.

And boy was he right. He tailed The Boy Who Wailed's dispensable sidekick into the back of the deserted library where he found Granger, face buried in a book. Her complexion was red and blotchy, making it clear that she had been crying again. Draco really didn't notice that, though. He was marveling at her concentration, the fierceness of her eyes as she ate every word of the book up in her mind. His heart skipped a beat as he watched her lick her index finger to turn the page.

And apparently, this was the blundering red head's cue. He stumbled out from is hiding spot behind the book shelf to right in front of her. "Hermione" his voice cracked and she winced, refusing to look up at him.

"Go away" she told him in the meanest voice she could muster.

"Hermione" He repeated. She still didn't look up, expecting him to listen to her and go away. But, he made the whole scene tenser by taking a step forward and grabbing her hand. She panicked, swatting at his hand and screaming at him, but he persisted.

"Look at me!" he yelled before slapping her. She started to openly sob and struggle in his iron grasp.

"Ron! You're drunk! Get away from me!" a red patch of bruising skin already started to appear where he hit her. He raised his fist again, but before he could strike her, Draco jumped out, flashing his wand wildly and declaring his presence.

"Petrificus Totalis!" He said and the spell hit Ron square in the chest. He let go of Hermione, who stumbled back into a bookcase and fell down, before he himself collapsed to the ground.

Draco ran to Hermione and found her face bleeding. She moaned in pain and sat up groggily. Both her hands were covering her nose, which was now broken. He raised his wand to her face. "Episky" he whispered as she whimpered and her nose realigned itself.

He now went to grab Weasley and turn him in, but Hermione stopped him. "No. I don't want him to get into trouble."

Draco sighed. "Your choice." He said as he reached his hand out to help her up. She eyed him suspiciously and then took it, but half way up, fell to the ground again in agony.

"I think I sprained my ankle when I fell" she said it as if it wasn't Ron's fault, then brushed back her hair out of her face.

"We should get you to the infirmary then." She didn't protest as he helped her slowly up and let her lean on him the whole way there. People eyed them funny as the past, but neither of them noticed.

Hermione couldn't help but think of Ron waking up the next day on the library floor and having a major hangover, probably not remembering hurting her. Draco, on the other hand, tried not to notice how sweet Hermione smelled as she put most of her weight on him. He tried to control his racing heart rate so she wouldn't notice, but no matter how deeply he breathed, his chest was thumping as fast as a race horse.

When they reached the infirmary, Hermione used the excuse of falling down the stairs and hurting herself to get treatment and a hospital bed for the night.

When she was settled, Draco was still next to her bed. He ran his hands over the scratchy sheets, wondering what to do now. She looked at him and asked what she desperately wanted him to answer. "Why?"

But, instead of answering her, he shook his head and stormed out of the room.

Little did they know, it would be a question that would lead to a change of heart in both of them. Sooner or later.

a/n: I love you for reading and I will love you even more if you review! I promise to update within a couple days! 3, HJM


	3. Goodbye to My Heart

A/N: Chapter Three for you folks! Thanks for all your reviews, they make me want to update faster! Just FYI, the songs I put at the beginning of the chapter not only set the mood and bring out theme, they are the songs I listen to when I'm writing! So you might want to listen to them when you read, so you get the full effect. Hahaha . Love, HJM.

p.s. this is the draft before my Beta fixes all my mistakes, so bare with me. I only posted it early bc I love you so much! When she proofreads it, I will update it to be without errors.

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Chapter Three: Goodbye to My Heart

"Here we go again; I kinda want to be more than friends. So take it easy on me, I'm afraid you're never satisfied… No I won't sleep tonight. ~Animal by Neon Trees

"D-Draco?" Hermione mumbled groggily, then opened her eyes to the stinging light before her.

"No, weirdo." Ginny's voice sounded from above her. Hermione's eyes adjusted to her surroundings and saw the red head's smiling face next to her hospital bed.

"Were you dreaming about arguing with Draco?" Hermione looked on the other side of her bed and saw that Harry had also come to visit. His hair looked frazzled and his glasses were crooked. It looked like he had had a rough couple of days, which was true. Fighting off reporters at the same time as taking NEWT classes was exhausting. He handed her a glass of water and she downed it in a few large gulps.

She shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe." She was trying to think of what exactly she had dreamt of last night. "I was in the library…" she started to recall. Then, looking around, she suddenly remembered. She had lied to get in to the infirmary, saying she fell down, when really…

She gasped. Draco had saved her. Again.

"What?" Ginny asked her, confusion spreading over her freckled face.

"I- I" Hermione was trying to think of a good lie. Her friends couldn't know about the Draco incident, because then they would realize what Ron had done. And she didn't want him in trouble, no matter how much he had hurt her. "I was leaving. And, um, I tripped down the stairs on my way out." She remembered how Draco rescued her from a very intoxicated and deranged Ron and led her to the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey had barely bought her lie.

She cleared her throat, wondering if she was leaving anything out to explain. "I dragged myself here. I really don't know what is wrong with me, but" she sighed and realized her lower leg was throbbing. "I think my ankle is sprained. Or broken."

Things were silent for awhile as Hermione tested her leg by rolling it to one side. "Ow." She grunted, feeling the pain pierce through her. She tried to lift it up, but couldn't, wincing at the hammering feeling on her shin.

Harry frowned and shifted in his chair. "Did Ron come and see you?" a vision of Ron flashed through her head form last night in the dim light of the library. Him holding her until she couldn't breathe and squeezing her wrists so much that she wanted to cry out, but couldn't because he slapped her.

It was one of the most shocking moments of her life- that hand to face contact. All the air had gone from her lungs and she felt like she was drowning after he hit her. It wasn't enough that he had broken her heart, he had also caused her physical pain.

Hermione felt as if she was swimming in blank, sticky tar. "Uh, no. He must be busy I guess."

"Or he hasn't heard." Ginny comforted her, still thinking that they were together and that she needed to make sure Hermione knew Ron cared, no matter what. Well, that's the problem, Hermione thought. He cares a little too much about everyone. Hermione cleared her throat.

"Feeling better?" Madam Pomfrey entered the room with a goblet of something green and bubbling.

Hermione eyed the cup of goo cautiously, and then said "A bit. I guess." The elderly healing witch handed it to her and motioned for her to drink it, but she hesitated.

"You fractured your ankle, dear" she clicked her tongue on the roof of her mouth. "Drink it and you will feel better."

Hermione saw Harry and Ginny make faces of empathy and disgust. They had both had to take potions for growing and mending bones, and she didn't recall any good things about the taste.

Deciding it was for the best, she plugged her nose, closed her eyes and tentatively touched her mouth to the edge of the liquid, then tipped it up and downed it quickly. Immediately, she gagged and spluttered and barely held it in until it all went down, flinching the whole time. Then, she opened and coughed like there was no tomorrow.

Harry pointed his wand to her empty water glass. "_Aguamenti_" he told it, and the glass filled with water instantaneously. Hermione grabbed it and chugged it until the horrid burning taste was gone from her mouth.

"Thanks Harry. That was horrid." She made a 'BLEC' sound and handed both containers back to Madam Pomfrey. She walked away muttering about over reactions.

"No problem" He told her. "That one I've had before." They laughed, recalling the many times they all had been stuck in the hospital wing together, fighting through their former years against just about everything. Hermione found it odd this year, very strange even, to not be doing anything to break the rules or save the school or rescue the world.

Normal life was weird for her. Harry no longer toughed his scar in pain. He and Ginny had an open relationship because there really was no chance he was going to die. Headmistress McGonagall didn't have much trouble with her students. The school wasn't on the verge of closing. Hermione had absolutely nothing perilous to worry about. There were no mysteries to solve.

And, most importantly, up until mere hours ago, her year had been dreadfully boring.

"You two should go." Madam Pomfrey told Harry and Ginny. "The potion will put her to sleep soon." They nodded, hugged her and got up to leave.

"See you in class 'Mione" said Harry, placing a hand on Ginny's back. It made her heart clench to see the affection between them. The war had only brought them closer together, while it had ripped her and Ron apart. She saw love between them that would last for a lifetime. Love she always thought would be hers with Ron. That had been torn from her grasp.

"Bye" she told them quietly as they left, hand in hand. She felt a tear slide down her face and she brushed it away.

Hermione was about to call out to the healing witch and ask her for an extra blanket, but her stomach made a gargling noise as the potion reached its destination. Her head fell back against the pillow, her eyes closed, and her whole world faded away.

As she snored, she dreamt of a muffled, sleepy dream world only made of crystal clear blue water. The sky was almost the same shade, only a tiny bit lighter.

Hermione was floating in the swirling water that surrounded her, trying hard to keep herself afloat. The water was all over her, too. Drenching her clothes and her hair, it swirled around her, making swishy splashy sounds as it lapped against her gently. It was the most beautiful shade of blue she had ever seen, like the feathers of a Jay bird or Blue Bell flowers.

The breeze that blew through this ocean was warm and inviting. She kicked up in the water and floated on her back, closing her eyes and breathing in the scent of musk and mint and oranges. Strange smells, she thought, for the middle of a lake or lagoon or whatever she was floating in.

Hermione didn't know how long she floated there, because time is always an iffy thing in dreams. But it felt, as she relaxed there, that it had been hours. She didn't notice that the water had started to churn around her after awhile, or that that the sky overhead was starting to be occupied by nasty looking grey storm clouds, until a drop from above caught her right on the nose. She opened her eyes for a second and closed them again, not really worrying about a little rain. She was, after all, soaked already.

Then all Hell broke loose.

The once calm water now washed over her in violent waves, pulling her under. It felt and looked like more of an icy color as she looked up from the depths that it had trapped her in. It took a lot of effort to get back to the surface, where the rain pelted her face like bullets, driving her under once more.

She gasped and felt the liquid fill her lungs and the water seemed to grasp her like giant's hands and drag her further and further down. She struggled in its grip, fighting and swimming as hard as she could back up, but her efforts were futile.

Her head became groggy and she stopped struggling, she let the current pull he down, down, until in the final moment, she looked up, and the light disappeared.

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Hermione woke up, flailing her arms around and breathing hard. Assuring herself that it was only a dream, she wiped the cold sweat from her brow and marveled at how much she had been sleeping for the last few days. This time, though, she was alone when she woke up. She watched the muffled sunlight filter through the window, catching the dust spiraling upwards in a tower of illuminated brightness as she calmed down slowly.

She was thinking about Draco. How he was apparently so worried about her safety and feelings all of a sudden. He just kept popping up, as if he wanted to see her. And how she kind of wanted to see him too.

She immediately shook the thought from her mind. She didn't want to see Draco, her sworn enemy. So why the hell did he want to see her? Well, she reasoned, even if she didn't want to see him, she should any to ask what the heck his problem was. It was very un-slytherin of him, all that he had done, yet, maybe the war had changed him. What they had seen was gruesome. Really, it had changed them all.

She shifted in the scratchy sheets and tested her ankle by rolling it around. Miraculously, it seemed fine. That potion may have been disgusting, but it sure had worked. She touched her cheek and found it still sore, though, and she sighed, not looking forward to explaining that bruise. Also, to her misfortune, she found that as she twisted her head, her neck pained her.

"Damn hospital pillows" she said to herself as she tried to stretch the crick out, but to no avail. She decided that she really needed to get out of the bed now.

Carefully keeping her neck unmoving, she sat up, placed her feet on the ground and stood up. A bit dizzy, she grabbed onto a chair next to her and stood there for a few seconds.

In any other circumstance she would have had to sit down, but now, she desperately felt as if she needed to find Draco. She grabbed her coat off of the bed's railing and headed towards the exit.

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Draco was sitting in the library, waiting for Granger, who he thought would, after exiting the hospital wing, immediately come in there. He needed to know if she was alright. He didn't know what it was, but a tugging at his heart told him that he needed to see her. It wasn't a want. Draco Malfoy didn't bend to his wants. He followed his mind, never his heart.

It seemed that in this occasion, though, everything was reversed. It was nine on Sunday and she still hadn't shown up, which worried him, but he decided to stay for a little while longer.

The library was very quiet at this time of day, as most people were still sleeping. Only Madam Pince wondered about, putting books back in their proper places. That morning, when he came in at about seven, he found the witch kicking a very hungover and confused Ronald Weasley out of her domain.

As Draco walked in, she eyed him warily, but he just told her he needed to work on his essay for potions, which, was coincidentally due on Monday, but he had no intentions of really doing it at that moment.

He watched from the back of the library few passersby looking for books, meeting with friends, and working on papers. He set his chin over his hands, which rested on the table. He had never been more impatient in his entire life, waiting for Hermione, who, if she was headed towards this area, would have already been there.

He stood up, afraid that there was some complication in the infirmary, or that she had gotten into more trouble. He made good time, plowing his way towards the hospital, jogging the whole way there.

But, as he rounded the corner and came into the wing, Granger wasn't there. He scanned all the beds, just in case she had been moved, but to no avail. His heart felt a bit lighter, knowing she wasn't in dire circumstances. He told himself that if she was, she would still be in there.

He walked away, contented that she was safe if she wasn't in there, and ignoring the fact that she hadn't gone to the library.

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After searching his usual haunts, then the Great Hall, Hermione gave up on finding Draco and headed towards the library to get her head on straight. She would see him the next day in class. It wasn't like she was going to never be able to find him and talk to him about his strange change of heart.

She spent hours there, finishing her potions essay and reading to her heart's content, until she forgot all about her nightmare. Madam Pince, before closing up the place, usually did her rounds to check that everyone was gone. But she had been tired, and figured that everyone had left, so she didn't see Hermione, failing to realize how late it had gotten. By the time she exited the library, it was almost eleven at night, and she was running back to the common room to avoid being caught.

Draco, as it turns out, was also running the corridors. Though, for him, it was more mandatory. _He was_ being chased. By Mrs. Norris none the less, and that meant Filtch wasn't far behind.

He ran up past the Gryffindor common rooms and took an unexpected turn into a desolate, darkened hallway, where he bit his tongue and breathed as quietly as he could. His heart was pumping and the adrenaline was running rampant through him. He felt as if he could do anything. He could climb a mountain, save the world, eat caviar, or beat up the Minister of Magic. But the last one hit him like a sucker punch. He could even kiss Hermione Granger.

As he analyzed the thought, he slapped himself his disgust. It was only the adrenaline, he thought. Only because it was forbidden and dangerous and he felt as if he wanted to do something unexpected.

He was about to get his chance.

After he saw Filtch and Mrs. Norris pass by, he slipped out of the hallway and bolted silently back past the common rooms and rounded the corner and… WHAM! He had fallen into something very solid.

He was on the floor, grabbing his head in pain and looking for the source of the collision. Suddenly, his vision cleared and he became face to face with a very disheveled Hermione Granger. As he looked at her, he didn't see the filthy mudblood that had been rivals with for years. He saw the most beautiful girl he had ever laid his eyes upon.

He noticed that her books were on the floor like they had been thrown there, and that she was rubbing her forehead just like him._ She_ was what he had run into, he realized. She found his eyes and gasped.

Hermione, who had, before that very moment, forgotten all about the scary ocean, was now staring right into the color of the ocean water. A color she was now dangerously drawn to. But it wasn't water at all.

It was Draco's eyes.

He looked at her, heart beating rapidly and emotions taking over, grabbed the back of her head and touched his lips against hers.

Instead of pulling away, she gasped in surprise and kissed him back, a little more roughly than she had meant to. She wanted to get as close to the dangerous water as she could. And it suddenly felt as if she was swimming in the water again. She inhaled deeply. Musk. Mint. Oranges.

It was something neither of them had expected. Yet, it was something they both had unknowingly wanted so desperately. So, they sat there on the floor for awhile, books splayed around them, locked eye to eye, kissing more passionately than either of them ever had.

"Well, well, well." They froze as they heard Filtch's scratchy voice from above them. "Love birds in the hallways after dark caught red handed?"

They had separated and stared up at him in horror. Draco absentmindedly wiped Hermione's lipstick from his mouth and let out a cough.

"Detention for you two." Filtch showed his yellow smile. Hermione, ashamed, gathered her books and stuffed them in her bag, trying to hide her blush. "Were going to the headmistress" He sang out in a rough tune.

He motioned for Mrs. Norris to follow as he led a scared Gryffindor and a weary Slytherin to their impending doom.

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A/N: CLIFF HANGER -BAHAHAHA, I do feel especially _**evil**_ making you wait for the next chapter. But, if you review, I promise I will write faster. Reviews are very motivating! Tell me also in the review, if you want to see anything specific in this story. I will make it bend any way I want it to. I have no outline for it, nor any idea where the hell it's going. I'm kind of winging it, but I'm also really liking it so far. Tell me what you think and where it should go! Love, HJM


	4. Like The Moon and Sun

A/N: Hi guys! Sorry to leave you with that cliffy, it was fun to write, though. Here comes my first AU character in this chapter, so have fun with that. Ahahaha lol. Enjoy chapter four my friends! Love, HJM.

Chapter Four: Contrast

"When the moon fell in love with the sun, all was golden in the sky. All was golden when the day met the night." –_When the Day Met the Night_ by Panic! At the Disco.

Hermione and Draco sat in the Headmistress's office with Filtch breathing over them, waiting for McGonagall to dole out punishment.

Hermione's eyes were closed in shame and horror. Why she had let Malfoy kiss her was beyond worldly comprehension. But, at the same time she felt ashamed, she felt accomplished. Like something had happened that should have happened a long time ago. Not to mention that it had felt right to her. _So incredibly right. _

Yet, to her it made no sense. Draco Malfoy was all wrong. He was a bad guy for crying out loud! She pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration and huffed out a weary breath.

"It's ok." Draco told her. "We can't get in too much trouble. Can we?"

Hermione looked up at his smiling face and was ready to snap at him and tell him that she was struggling with her feelings, not with the prospect of getting caught. But as she opened her mouth, she clamped it shut and stopped herself from revealing her inner struggle. He couldn't know what she felt, because she really didn't know herself. She just frowned at him and turned away.

"Everything will be fine." He assured, placing a hand on her shoulder. At that very moment, the Headmistress slammed open her office door and stomped in, looking disheveled and livid. Draco winced and withdrew his hand from Hermione's shoulder, sitting sharply back down in his chair and breathing heavily.

He was also having a bit of an inner struggle. It was like he had started to dig this huge hole the moment he brought his nemesis to the Room of Requirement. As he saved her, contemplated her, fought off Ron for her, or even just imagined her in his head, the hole became so much deeper. Each shovelful of dirt was a confusing swirl of emotion-the uncharacteristic need to help and the absence of former malice. He realized, very frightened, that not only was this hole his grave, he also voluntarily wanted to lie in it.

Anything to get closer to the Gryffindor. She was becoming his drug. Now that they were slightly friends, he couldn't keep his mind off her. And he thought that, now that they had kissed, he could never stay away from her or let her leave his sight. He was barely able to tear his gaze away from her sad, brown eyes and look guiltily up at McGonagall.

"Alright." Professor McGonagall said sternly, sitting down. "What were you too fighting about and how much damage have you done? I don't appreciate being summoned out of bed at this hour." She glared at Filtch and he took a step back, apologizing as he went. As he stepped back, he stumbled over Mrs. Norris who gave a half hearted mew, silencing his excuses.

Hermione and Draco weren't expecting they would have to explain. The problem was that they weren't fighting at all. Hermione looked at him and he tensed up, wondering how they were going to elaborate. But, before they could embarrass themselves, Filtch spoke for them.

"They were snogging." He grumbled. "In the hallway. After dark." He added with a click with the back of his throat on the 'k'.

Their old Transfiguration professor just stared at them for a moment and burst out in tired fits of laughter. Hermione was shocked, as she had never ever seen the witch laugh. A tiny, thin lipped smile once in a blue moon, but never had she seen her so riled up in hilarity.

"Filtch you must be hallucinating. These two? Really? When trolls fly." She said, absolutely exasperated and out of breath from laughing. He had nothing to say in his defense, and only blundered about his sight. She turned to the guilty party and told them "for being out after curfew you will get detention. Your detention will be served after classes tomorrow with Professor Nelthrope. I hope, in the future, you won't bother me with such fickle matters as these, Filtch."

The two were sent to their dormitories, the Headmistress's door slamming behind them. "It could have gone a lot worse." Draco told her as they descended down the staircase. She saw that he was smirking and looking quite happy with himself.

She grunted in agreement, not knowing what to say to him. They walked back in silence, footsteps echoing on the marble floor. As they reached the point where they had to go in different directions, Hermione finally said "Nothing happened."

Draco stopped walking as stared at her, confused. "Pardon?" He raised an eyebrow and her heart fluttered. The sea in his eyes was so inviting, so tempting, that she had to shake herself to get her mind back on her train of thought.

"Nothing happened between us." She elaborated, looking away from the dangerous water in his gaze and focusing away from that drowning feeling whenever she was with him, like she was loosing control. "We can't be… with each other. It's too complicated. Nothing happened." She repeated and started to walk away.

"No, wait." He said and caught her arm. She flinched and he realized he had pulled a Ron by grabbing her. He let go instantaneously and apologized. "Sorry. I didn't mean to." She was his drug, his anchor. He couldn't let her go.

"Nothing happened." She said for the last time and stormed off, leaving him breathing heavily and reaching out for empty air.

The next day in Care of Magical Creatures class, it took all of Hermione's inner strength to keep her from looking at Draco. He, on the other hand, had his eyes trained on her the whole time. The entire class trod out into the Forbidden Forest with Hagrid to take a look at what they would be studying for the next couple of weeks.

The shade of the towering trees washed across the students faces as they came to a stop behind their giant teacher, who was blocking their view of something that was making quite a lot of noise at that current moment.

"This." He said almost solemnly, sucking in a great breath. "Is one of the rarest creatures you will find and they only live in Mongolia. They look a bit frightening, but don't be alarmed, the Banshee will cause you no harm."

Hermione noticed, as usual, that Hagrid had no explanation for how he got a Banshee from Mongolia. The half-giant stepped aside to reveal a creature that seemed to be made of shadows and black mist. For the first time all day, Hermione felt Draco's eyes leave her to look at the creature.

It appeared to be half-floating, half-galloping around its paddock, and came to a stop right in front of the class, snorting black haze out of its nostrils. Tendrils of smoke rose from its ever subtly shifting form. The thing looked like a dragon the size of a horse, but in the form of ashes.

"The Banshee is seen by muggles as an omen of death that kills with its scream." The whole class seemed to take a step back from the thing at Hagrid's words. "But, it's a very narrow view. It is a very powerful creature that takes orders from the master of its choice. These masters are only ever magical folk and it's a privilege to be chosen. The Banshee doesn't kill on purpose, and can only harm another wizard or muggle if its scream is heard. And the only way to hear the scream is for its master to hurt the Banshee to the point of mutilating it severely."

This didn't really comfort anyone, and it really didn't comfort Hermione, who felt it stare into her soul. Hagrid saw the averse looks he was getting and added "Terribly misunderstood creatures if you ask me. Terribly misunderstood."

The Banshee flapped it misty wings, blowing smoke on the class and making a gurgling noise at them before they were dismissed.

When Draco showed up for his detention with Granger, she was already there and staring daggers out of her gleaming eyes at him. She was sitting on the steps inside of the DADA classroom that lead up to professor Nelthrope's office.

"You're late" she said as a matter of fact, turning away from him and standing up to ascend the palely lit staircase.

He grunted acknowledging her and holding in a protest, as it was only two minutes past seven. Feeling a bit defeated, he put his head down and sighed as he dragged his feet towards the office. They knocked on the door and heard a coughing choke then a strained "enter."

Hermione turned the knob and with a click, they were enveloped in a smoky haze. They coughed and spluttered and waved away the white smoke to find professor Nelthrope chewing on the end of a very large cigar.

Nelthrope was a tall, lean man with a gruff voice from smoking. He usually hid the burnt smell of cigars on him by constantly drinking black coffee, but the smells, Hermione found, were at the moment both equally pungent.

In class, he slid around the room on lanky, skeleton legs and watched everyone over his baggy and tired black eyes. His robes were always too big for him, making his featured seem more sunken in. He looked like a dead man walking.

The old wizard drew out his wand and with a wave, the smoke was cleared from the students' vision. He threw his cigar up in the air and it disappeared. "What is it you need?" He inquired, reaching out to quickly to hide some parchment on his desk that he had forgotten to conceal.

"Detention" They said in unison, their voices mixing together in a symphony of regret and anguish. Hermione held in a sigh at hearing Draco's smooth tone sound behind her. She shivered with longing.

"Oh, yes, yes" said the professor, fumbling over his words. "I forgot you too were coming."

They found each other's eyes with a knowing look. Nelthrope looked as if he were contemplating it for a second and then cleared his throat. "Peeves set out three Boggarts in the castle. Get them, trap them in these and bring them to me." He pointed to three dusty brown carpet bags with metal latches.

They left with well wishes, three carpet bags and little supervision. "This is easy." Draco broke the silence as he and Hermione exited the classroom and already picked up the first trail. A path of havoc was seen through the corridor, leading out to the upper gardens. There were a couple students running from the scene, shrieking like they had seen ghosts. Which was a common occurrence. A trembling first year stood behind a pillar and pointed a finger towards a bush that was suspiciously moving.

"It's a mummy." The small Ravenclaw squeaked, hiccupping in fear. "Wraps and all."

Draco motioned for Hermione to stay back and he withdrew his wand from his pocket, stepping towards the bush. She felt butterflies in her stomach just watching his look of concentration. _Scratch that_, she thought. _Not butterflies_. It felt like Scarab Beetles were pinching her insides. But, in a sort of good, anxious way. She had really broken him the night before, kissing him and then telling him nothing had happened. Her head pounded with nausea and nervousness. She was surprised he was even talking to her in a slightly friendly voice.

She felt it was her only choice, though, staying behind him. She was scared to go any farther into the unknown with a serpent.

He stepped forward boldly into the courtyard and watched the bush rumble before his father stepped out, tall and disapproving. Draco raised his wand, ready to send him into the first carpet bag in hand, but the Boggart spoke. "You are a waste of air. A shame for a son. You belong to no one. You gave up on evil and your family and all purebloods. You soiled our name"

Hermione saw Draco's wand arm start to shake. His dad stalked around him, looking down on his son with a crooked nose and a dull gaze.

Draco, standing there before the former master of his household, felt like a child again being reprimanded for something he broke or said. He closed his eyes for a split second and saw the Cruciatus curse flash towards him in a memory. That had been a common and cruel punishment doled out by his father.

"Now you will pay for your deception." The fake Lusious raised his wand, ready to strike Draco down, but Draco was too fast.

"Riddikulus!" He yelled, now a slight tremble at his knees. His dad shut his mouth, got on all fours, turned into a fat walrus and squeezed itself into the bag at Draco's feet.

Hermione looked in shock at the fear he had faced. She hadn't known the turmoil inside him was so large and unruly. "Nice one." She offered him as he walked back towards her, trying to lighten the murky mood.

He said nothing to her, clearly shaken and a bit angry as he picked up the bags and stomped in the other direction, expecting her to follow.

A/N :So, if someone could tell me how to make lines to separate stuff that would be great. I feel like an imbecile… sorry that took so long to write, I was having major brain blockage. The next chapter will finish up with the boggarts and be much longer. I know you may not believe me, but I really do love you when you review. I relish over every word. I take constructive criticism well, so don't hold back. Yeah. That's right. I'm begging. PLEASE REVIEW. You guys rock my socks, by the way, and I love you. For real. I promise. This is getting wordy so I'm gunna go now…bye. Love, HJM


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